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[Blu-ray Review] ‘Gremlins’ and ‘Gremlins 2: The New Batch’

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One of the greatest movies ever made was released in June of 1984. Produced by Steven Spielberg, written by Chris Columbus, and starring Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates and an adorable furry puppet, Gremlins is still amazing to watch. With merchandising – including a Hardee’s deal with the story in a series of 5 books on 45 (yes, records), coloring books, school supplies, Colorform playsets and more – the film became a massive hit with children despite its violent and terrifying antagonists. In 1989, an over the top sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, was released.

More than likely, you’ve seen both movies and you’ve been dying to own them on Blu-ray. You’re in luck! They are both now available, with an ample amount of special features. The quality and sound are on both are not perfect, but for their age, they are pretty damn nice.

Gremlins is a wildly original roller-coaster ride of hilarious mischief. One minute your hair will stand on end, the next you’ll hold your sides with laughter at the havoc these supposedly gentle fur-balls create when the rules surrounding their care and feeding are inadvertently broken one fateful Christmas. Written by Chris Columbus and directed by Joe Dante, Gremlins unleashes special effects that dazzle and enchant and merriment that lingers in the memory.

Gremlins Special Features:

Behind the Scenes includes candid interviews with the cast and crew – including Steven Spielberg. It is a short piece but definitely shows some great set shots, back stories and more.

The commentary track with director Joe Dante, producer Michael Finnell, and special effects artist Chris Walas brings up the fact that Gremlins was originally not supposed to be a children’s film. It is definitely worth listening to if you are a fan and is incredibly insightful. However, they talk about a ton of extra footage and behind-the-scenes bits that were shot that are not included; perhaps the footage no longer exists. The other track is Joe Dante with Phoebe Cates, Zach Galligan and, of course, Gizmo himself – Howie Mandel.

Additional Features include over 10 minutes of extra footage – some of which is quite entertaining. Two trailers for the original are included on the disc. The trailer for the re-release will bring back memories to those who remember seeing the film more than once in the theatre. The trailer for the sequel – outlined further below on the Gremlins 2 disc – is also included.

Gremlins 2 Special Features:

The Making of Featurette is very cheese-ball and is presented in VHS quality. Much like the film, the documentary treats the gremlins themselves as real people, er, things by stating that they’re stalling production and causing general chaos. If you can appreciate the humor, you’ll dig it.

Cut scenes are entertaining, especially with commentary, though Joe Dante repeatedly states he doesn’t know why most scenes were cut. The first half are somewhat uneventful and removed due to length more than likely. Some are actually really great and it would’ve been neat to have an optional cut with the scenes added back in.

The Gag Reel starts off comically with one of the test lab monkeys scared to escape her cage due the gremlin puppet opening its door. Continuing for several minutes, repetitive hilarity ensues. Also included is the Alternate Home Video sequence. In the original film, the gremlins take over the projection booth – in this, they take over the VHS tape.

The best part of the special features may be the trailer. Years ago, there was no internet. So, seeing a trailer like this in the theatre was an amazing surprise. If you were one of the many children who freaked out when you original saw it, you can feel that happy rush once again!

Both discs: 8/10

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‘Herencia Diabólica’ – 1993’s “Mexican Child’s Play” Finally Has a Blu-ray Release [Review]

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Did you know that there is a Child’s Play-inspired film from Mexico? If you didn’t, you can thank Vinegar Syndrome’s new label Degausser Video for making 1993’s Herencia Diabólica available for the masses to watch. Or at least for the VS hardcore fanbase, Chucky completists and anyone else who needs something like this in their lives.

Director Alfredo Salazar, known for his writing connection to the 70s Santo film series, also serves as the writer here to bring us a film seemingly inspired from the Child’s Play franchise. While it has been recently labeled as the “Mexican Child’s Play” (there’s a special feature on the disc with that very title), the killer doll concept is where the comparison should start and end. Despite having some seeds planted by that franchise, Salazar delivers a story that blossoms into something unique.

Tony (Roberto Guinar) receives a letter informing him that his aunt has died, and he has inherited her estate in Mexico. He quits his job and uproots his life in New York with his wife Annie (Holda Ramírez) to relocate south of the border and move into his new crib. Now I know what you’re thinking, what person just quits their job and drags their wife to another country without having reliable monetary income? Tony does, everyone, Tony does.

And what’s the first thing they do once they arrive in Mexico and check out the estate? They hit the bedroom, naturally. We are treated to a sex scene with an erotica song that feels like a knockoff of “Sadness” by Enigma (remember them?). Sounds fun and all, but the scene takes place completely in the dark and we see absolutely nothing. Maybe that’s why the sexy-time tune was pumping, so we could know what was exactly going down.

While Tony goes on a job interview, Annie explores the estate’s grounds in a tedious chore to experience, going room by room, plodding along. But it does lead us to her discovery of our antagonist—the evil clown doll, Payasito! Of all the things in the house, she decides to bring this monstrosity down to show Tony when he gets home. What an exciting way to celebrate (sic)! Then out of nowhere, she spouts off some exposition about rumors that Tony’s aunt dabbled in the dark arts and now we know where our title Diabolical Inheritance (the English translation for Herencia Diabólica) originates. For those of you who keep score for things like that.

Before proceeding with this review, you really need to visualize what Payasito looks like to truly embrace the rest of the film’s shenanigans. While Chucky resembles a cute ginger child, Payasito resembles a small clown that is much larger in stature than Chucky. That’s because Payasito is performed by an actor (Margarito Esparaza) in clown cosplay whenever he’s on the move (like Mannequin 2), and makes some really horrible facial expressions. Chucky dresses in “Good Guys” overalls and a striped shirt, but Payasito wears a new wave Santa hat while sporting a Sgt. Pepper jacket and Peter Pan tights. As you can now tell, he is quite beautiful.

Back to our story, Payasito begins to spook Annie cerebrally until she becomes unnerved to the point of having a complete mental break down, making her easy prey to eliminate. She dies but the unborn child survives, with Tony believing that her death was caused by her mental instability. Fast forward some years later and the couple’s surviving spawn has grown into child Roy (Alan Fernando), who at this point has already bonded with Payasito to help him over the loss of his mother. Dun-dun-duuunnn!

Meanwhile wealthy Tony remains single, still grieving his late wife, until his blonde assistant Doris encourages him to move on with his life and start seeing other people. And by other people, she naturally means herself. As the old Kanye West song lyric goes, “I ain’t saying she’s a gold digger…”, and it seems that she might be until we learn more about her character. Doris is played by the stunning Lorena Hererra who has an extremely extensive resume in Mexico, and she carries most of the film quite well during the feature’s second half. The singer and former Playboy centerfold for their Mexico edition is by far the most recognizable face in the cast.

Doris and Tony do indeed hookup and she moves into La casa de Herencia, where she does her best to impress Roy and lessen his obsession with the doll. There is a scene where they go to a nearby park without Payasito that is filled with famous fairytale figures, such as Pinocchio, Cinderella and King Kong! What, you didn’t know King Kong is a fairytale? Me neither. But Roy continues to be obsessed with Payasito after their trip, much to Doris’ chagrin.

Her actions to separate him from Roy gets Payasito angry, setting up the film’s most memorable scene. We already know that Payasito is a devil doll like Chucky, but now we learn he also has the power to invade people’s dreams like Freddy Krueger! Does Payasito enter the dream world and concoct a creative way to kill Doris in her sleep? No, he harnesses his power to sexually assault her instead. Yes that actually happens. After she awakens, Doris grabs the doll and tosses him into a lake, only to find him waiting for her by the time she gets back to the house. So now we know he also maintains the ability to “transport” like Jason Voorhees too. This doll is the total package!

More insanity happens before we close out the film with the longest victim chase sequence ever. It makes the previously mentioned painful house search scene seem like an eyeblink. It feels like it’s the film’s entire third act, filled with so much padding that you could soundproof an entire three-story house.

So how’s the transfer? Considering it was created using a mix of VHS and film source elements from 1993, they did one heck of a job! The work they put into it is especially noticeable in the dream invasion sequence, with the pulsing multi-colored psychedelic visuals. Super trippy stuff. Even the film’s score provides a pretty chill vibe, during the times when Payasito isn’t on the prowl.

If anything you read has piqued your interest in the very least, you should give it a shot. But if not, it is best to leave this doll on the shelf.

Herencia Diabólica is now available to purchase at VinegarSyndrome.com.

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